Life would be pretty boring if we didn't constantly discover new fields of interest and new places.
Somehow the above two sentences were started and the thought never finished....Waz would say "That train left the station without the passengers!" I have to agree...:)
Not to say that I wont think of what was supposed to follow on, but in the meantime, I will document what has happened around these parts in the past week.
OH! I know!!! I was going to tell you about the new Supermarket we found. This will be old news to some people, but for us, it was a mighty discovery of the Awesome kind! I don't use the A word lightly, you understand.
The supermarkets in these parts are average, for the most part. We are blessed with a Walmart Market, Winn Dixie x 2, and up the far end of town there sits a Publix with no sign on the front of it to tell you it is a Publix, which is probably why we drove past it several times before figuring out it was our actually destination....the GPS kept telling us!
Our new discovery of the awesome kind was a Harris Teeter Supermarket! WOW! This is the next best thing to a Whole Foods! The prices are competitive, but the produce in particular was/is of superior quality, unlike some other places. Their cooked food sections overflowed, the breads were exceptional and did I mention the cheeses??? I had to take a photo of the New Zealand WHITE wine selections...we didn't get around to discovering the Reds!
I think I told you about the local "First Friday' of the month, in the Brunswick Historic District.. what is known as 'Downtown Brunswick'. This is an effort by the Chamber of Commerce to generate business in a depressed but beautiful area that struggles for the rest of the month, to do much business. We can think of a gazillion ways they might do things differently, but apparently, the chamber committee is filled to overflowing with die-hards who have lived here their whole lives and THINK they know everything. Don't most places have public bodies who are like this? lol.
Well, we met up with a few of the others from the marina...namely, the Aussies and Kiwis who are here right now. We stood around and listened to the music in one of the 12 squares in the center of the Downtown area.
Liam and Annie are Aussies from Sydney, and they have literally been around the world for the past 10 yrs on their 50ft Catamaran. You name it, they have been there! Before that, they motorcycled everywhere! They are similar age to us, and we enjoy their company. The kiwis on another large boat, this one a 54ft Jeanneau single hull, have their 8 yr old along with them. They have had some 'issues' with their boat in their absence! We should NEVER leave our boats to others to do 'work' when we are not present. Sometimes that is not possible, but the work they had done on their boat by unqualified and inexperienced 'tradesmen' should never have happened, and wouldn't have IF they had been in the country and been present! Kim, Kerry Anne (she is an Aussie/ Kiwi) and Keiley, their son, are here until Hurricane Season ends on November 1st. Another set of Kiwis, Ray and Fiona...well, SHE is the kiwi, and HE is the Aussie...returned this past week from spending a couple of months touring Canada. They had trouble re-entering the USA, as do most of our kind who are on 6 month visas. The print in black and white says that we have to leave the ENVIRONS of the USA, including the Bahamas, Canada and Mexico...so may as well go home, or to Europe for the required minimum of 15 days out of the country before re-entry is allowed. Woe betide those who try to skirt around the regulations.
Waz and I had an idea to take something new and distinctly kiwi to one of the get-togethers. It took us forever to find some really thin sliced bread. Finally we found some Arnolds Melba Cut bread. We wanted to make Asparagus Rolls. After opening four different cans of Asparagus, and finding some weird white substance in each tin, we found the fifth to be normal, as it were, and made the rolls out of that. This is one of NZ's and apparently Australia's favorite 'take a plate' kind of dish for sharing. They were snapped up and enjoyed by all.
Harris Teeter has the most wonderful meat department, and steak was on sale...we had to have some, of course, and enjoyed that meal a couple of nights ago. We also purchased 5 scallops which were also on sale and because they were so large...I cut them into 3 pieces each. We had them lightly poached with onion and garlic in a little cream with some fresh shrimp on Lemon pepper Linguine. Delish! Needing some greens, I steamed broccoli and fresh asparagus.
Two nights before, I made a Cauliflower Risotto with squash and shrimp. That too was delish...the garlic chives come from my own garden!
I guess you could say we eat very well?
In between all the other action, we have had some momentus storms. I love watching the clouds roll in and the rain in the distance, and calculating how long it will be before the storm deluges us. Of course we sometimes get great sunsets too:)
The storm clouds build around the fluffy white ones. Those can be deceiving though!
About 5 mins after I took these photos, the rain came down, suddenly. The river had white caps and the wind whipped the boat around on the dock. The ropes creaked and we had to adjust how we walked around inside, with all that rocking.
I had an appointment (finally) with an Orthopedic Surgeon yesterday in Jacksonville (JAX). The purpose was to investigate how far along the osteoarthritis is in my left hip. It was decided (by him) that he would replace the hip joint. May as well, he said, it will only get worse, and you should have enjoyment of life, at your young age. I liked him immediately!:)
So, I filled out a bunch of paperwork, and they gave me some more inside a folder, with times and dates and all kinds of information to cover their butts, and told me they would also investigate why I have numb feet and left side pain, not associated with the hip joint. An MRI is ordered for a lower back investigation. I have a prolapsed disk, I know that already, but how that is affecting the nerve, since the last X-ray (6 yrs ago) is the whole reason for the MRI. So, we have made some plans to dock the boat in nearby Ortega River, for the duration of the Operation and Physical Therapy that is required, so that will take place over about 3 months, November through February.
In the meantime, we have lots to do.
The Bimini will be removed on Tuesday, and the outdoor cushions will go with them too, to be recovered. The Bimini will be away only a couple of days, because we will be very exposed up top without it. Things will get VERY wet otherwise.
Waz and I have some other plans which I will tell you about in a couple of weeks. Lots going on!!!:)
For now...we are off to eat dinner...crab cakes with salad! new recipe!...and it is Saturday night, which means it is game night at the Yacht Club. Dominoes and Euchre! Ciao
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